It feels like it has been absolutely ages since I last sat down to have a little chat; a breather really, from the whirlwind that has been my life for the last few months. I can't believe we're halfway through October now - the weeks are passing by in a bit of a blur and I just felt the need to hold my hands up and slow things down a bit, and write a little post to gather my thoughts, news, and things I'm just liking right now.

~ Blogtober is something that always, always creeps up on me, and every year I lack the thought or organisation to plan for it. So this year I've set myself the quiet little challenge of posting on my Instagram at least once a day, just to prove to myself I'm capable of keeping something going, with a  view to making it a habit once October fades into November. It's been an interesting process, as I've noticed myself becoming more observant of my everyday surroundings, trying to find something picture-worthy every single day. Quite a challenge when your daily routine consists of commute, work, commute, home, but I've only missed a single day so far so I don't think I'm doing too badly!

~ I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a blogpost as much as I loved Michelle's Food For Thought post last week! It felt a little bit like sitting down for a coffee with other bloggers, despite the distance between us all. These days with so many blogs floating around the internet it's easy to let them all blur into one whirlwind of content, so it was so refreshing to take a break and learn something new about the people behind the usernames.

~ Another post that really resounded with me was Fee's post on blogging authentically - a lot of what she says echoes my personal resolution last year to write what I want to read, and I think it's so important for blogs to maintain a sense of authenticity. Now I do love a bit of aspirational reading, but it helps to remember the person you're idolising is a regular person like you and I! Fee makes a fair few valid points, and her post makes for a refreshing take on all the advice posts saturating the blogging community at the moment.

~ It wouldn't be a ramble of mine without some beauty chat... so with that in mind, I've recently rediscovered my Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer duo (languishing at the bottom of a handbag, obviously) and it couldn't have reappeared at a better time. We live beside a railway and they've been doing a lot of work on it for Crossrail, particularly overnight...so I've been looking rather haggard of a morning. I haven't reviewed yet, but coupled with a healthy dose of the Bobbi Brown corrector it's doing a great job of making me look marginally more human! Another rediscovery is the Rimmel lipstick in 107 - the perfect autumn berry lip! I've been teaming it with lashings of the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara for a very simple daytime look, partly because it's too dark in the mornings to apply anything more complicated...

~ Finally, I've had some of my ombré put back in my hair! I really missed having lighter hair as I wanted my natural shade for the wedding, it's still fairly subtle so I'm toying with the idea of going a bit blonder...eep! My Pinterest is full of inspiration photos for my dream hair, I'm just not sure if it would work on me, but there's only one way to find out... I am a teeny bit worried about damage and dryness but the lovely team at Vita Coco sent me a beautiful gift box with their coconut oil the other day, so I am well stocked when it comes to coconut hair mask goodness!

Have a lovely weekend all and speak soon!

Love Dani
xoxo